We're Older Now
by mondlering moofoot
Summary: [set in the future of the past] Lloyd Diffy has fixed the time machine and soon the Diffys will be on their way home. But does Phil still believe that home is truly where the heart is?


_A sweet standalone Pheely fic set in the future of the past. -winks- It is, like the title suggests, of them when they're older, so I suppose it's a little more...dramatic? Yeah. But enjoy anyways, and if you review, you get a cookie! heh._

**_Spoilers:_ None.  
_Setting:_ Phil, Keely and Pim are in their early twenties, and Barbara and Lloyd are in their later forties.  
_Assumptions:_ That Lloyd and Barbara quickly settled into the 21st century environment, and Lloyd got a job to support the bills and everything - hence with less time on his hands, he took longer to fix the time machine.  
_Shipping:_ Phil and Keely (pheely) - of course. could they be **any **cuter?  
****_Thank-You's:_ to those peeps on Phil of the Future Island who encouraged me enough to actually put up the fic. you rock, guys!**

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"He's sitting outside again," Barbara Diffy informed her husband. She shook her head. "I'm getting worried about him."

Lloyd looked up at her from putting the dinner dishes in the sink. "Why?"

She glared at him and waited patiently for some sign of realisation.

He blinked back at her and then shrugged. "Sorry, I don't know." His wife let out an impatient sigh. "Look, whatever it is that's bothering him, it'll all go away soon, because we're going back to the future as soon as we can!"

"I have a feeling that that's what's bothering him, Lloyd," Barbara looked sorrowfully out of the window at her son.

"What? How can that be?" he questioned, though he knew the answer already.

"Do I _have_ to tell you?" she asked with another sigh.

Although quite slow usually, he got it soon enough. "I know," he said. He joined her at the window. "I hope he doesn't get too tangled up in this," he said after a short silence.

"I was from the future of the future, too, sweetie - you seem to keep forgetting that I'm thirty-something years younger than you, not just five years like everyone else thinks," she reminded him as she leaned back into him.

"He's over a _hundred_ years younger than her!" Lloyd cried. "It's not - "

He was silenced by her finger on his lips. He stared at her then slowly began walking out from the kitchen. "I'll talk to him."

-

There was a shuffle of footsteps, followed by a soft greeting.

"Hey, dad," Phil said in response, without lifting his gaze from the backyard.

"Leaving for your apartment soon?" his father questioned, stepping down the steps and standing on the step that Phil was sitting on.

"Yep. Told Keel I'd be back by 11."

"It's only 8; it can't take longer than fifteen minutes to get there, can it?"

He looked up at him finally. "Sometimes I just walk randomly around. Y'know, get sometime to myself, what with work and everything."

He nodded in understanding. "Yeah, I know that feeling." He gestured towards the steps. "Mind if I, ah, join you?"

"Yeah, sure, go ahead," Phil said with a shrug. He moved a little to the side to allow him more space.

There was silence.

"We're gonna be going back soon," Lloyd started hesitantly, watching Phil's reaction from the corner of his eyes.

There was a forced smile on his face as he replied, "I know." A deep shuddering breath. "Can't wait, I guess."

He knew he was lying. And he knew he knew he was lying.

"Dad?" he asked quietly. "How did you know you were in love? With mum?"

He gave a half-smile, the weariness of his late forties showing on his face. "I didn't until she almost died." He glanced over at Phil. "She was my best friend, you know."

"Oh?" The twenty-two-year-old looked interested, and Lloyd took it as his cue to continue. "There was this huge explosion in her house thanks to a gas leak, and she even had to go to the ER." He shook her head sadly. "They said it was almost a miracle that she stayed alive."

"Wow," Phil said, looking slightly awestruck. "I - I didn't know that."

"We never really discussed it." He shrugged. "The uh, time machine they had was destroyed, so they never went back to their future."

"Oh - " his eyes widened. "Mom was from the _future_!" Lloyd nodded. "Ah! That's - uh, wow, that's wow!"

"Wow?" His dad raised an eyebrow. "Is that some new sort of slang?"

He didn't respond, only looked back at the backyard again.

Moment over, Lloyd realised, so he questioned hesitantly again.

"So," he started, "Are you in love, then?"

His face took on a puzzled expression as he shook his hand slowly. "I don't know, dad," he said, "I don't know."

His father got up, brushed his jeans, and made a move to go back inside again. At the top of the steps, however, he turned around again. There was a grin on his face. "Let's hope Keely doesn't have to visit the ER, hmm?"

The surprise on his young face was unmistakeable. "Huh - ah, what?" he stammered. He got up so quickly that he was sure he had pulled a muscle.

But all Lloyd offered him was a knowing smile. "Maybe you could talk to Pim about it. The two of them've gotten pretty close over the years, you know."

"Yeah, I know," Phil replied.

The older man punched him lightly on the shoulder and left him alone.

Phil took a deep breath. "Might as well," he told himself, and followed his father.

-

"I don't know, I just...feel like he's hiding something from me," she said on the phone.

"I think I know what it is," Pim said quietly, remembering what Phil had told her during dinner - iI didn't tell her we're going back yet./i "But I can't tell you. He'll have to tell you himself," she added hastily, knowing what one of her best friends was going to say.

"But Pim - "

"_Keely_," she said firmly. "He'll tell you himself."

Keely sighed. "Fine. I'll take your word for it. Since he's your brother and all."

"Oh, boo," Pim said, shaking her head. "I don't know him as well as you do. I do know guys, though - "

"Whatdya mean, you don't know him as well as I do?" Keely began to protest, only to be interrupted.

"He's closest to you out of anyone else in this whole entire universe. Even his guy friends in the future didn't know him as well as you do." And Pim continued quickly before Keely had time to say something else, "Don't protest. I have proof."

"Which is...?" she trailed off challengingly.

"No one - and I repeat, _no one_, calls him Philly Willy nowadays and gets away with it. Except _you_. And he's the only one in this whole bamboozling universe that calls you _Keel_. Even_I _stick to Keely!"

There was a short silence as Keely pondered this, then she heard a short cry from the other end of the phone. "Okay, I'll call you back. Phil wants to talk to me about something."

There was some static and only the dial-tone could be heard. Keely stared at the phone, then slowly got up to put it back on the hook.

She took a moment to look around the apartment to keep herself from thinking about anything else - or rather, any_one_ else. Unfortunately, everything she saw led back to him because they had picked out their furniture together.

It was a funky mix - many lime green and black furniture to go with both of their tastes. Together, they looked quite crazy, but they were what reminded them of each other, especially since Phil had quite late jobs, and Keely had many business trips.

She sank back onto the nearest sofa, leaning her head against one arm while lifting her legs to the top of the other. She shut her eyes. She didn't know when she had started wishing they were more than friends, but she did.

It was quite bizarre at first. She thought it was just a little bit of a crazy thing, maybe the after-effects of getting drunk or something. But no - three months and it was still there. If it wasn't real, then it was one _long_ hangover.

Her feelings for Phil were a big question mark for her. As she tossed memories of him and her - but mostly him - in her mind, she felt herself dropping off to sleep.

-

A small snore was his welcome when he opened the door at half-past ten. He grinned widely and shut the door behind him. Hanging up his keys and coat, he walked quickly to the blonde sleeping lightly on the couch.

He placed his hand on her shoulder and shook her gently. "Hey, Keel, wake up," he said softly.

"Uh...Phil?" she asked sleepily, sounding confused.

"Yeah, it's me," he whispered. "You must've fallen asleep."

"Yeah..." she sat up slowly and yawned. "Was just thinkin'."

He wondered what - or who - she had been thinking of. Shaking the thoughts away, he cleared his throat as he sat down next to her. "I gotta tell you something."

The misty, sleepylook in her eyes immediately cleared and she looked more alert at once. "Yeah? What is it?"

He couldn't help an inside smile. So Pim was right. She _did_ feel as if he was keeping something from her.

"Look, I know I've been a little distant lately..." She nodded lightly, but didn't interrupt. He was glad. "But I have a reason for it." She nodded again. "I...my..." he looked into her eyes. "My dad - he - he's fixed the time machine."

Her jaw dropped and there a flash of sadness in her eyes. He knew she wanted to cover it all up, but he noticed. There was an immediate dim to the light in her eyes.

"So - so you're leaving?" She asked, blinking a few times quickly. She didn't allow him to say anything, she just continued rambling. "I'm so happy for you, I mean, that's great! Going back to the future, leaving everything in _this_ century behind - " her voice hitched slightly at this point but she didn't stop - " - you must be so wondorously happy! And I mean, who're you gonna miss down here anyway? Certainly not - "

He smiled. Her blabbering was all the proof he needed to hear. "I thought you were a good actress, and I agree, but you're definitely not that good," he commented, interupting her. She reddened at once and leaned back slightly.

"I will definitely miss everyone here, people in the future definitely aren't as great as people here. I will definitely miss one person most of all - you."

Her eyes shot up to look at him doubtfully. But he noted, with a satisfied smile, that she had brightened up already.

"Look, I don't know when all this started, but..." he trailed off.

She stared at him. She wasn't sure when they'd gotten up on their feet, but at the moment, they were both standing.

He paused, then started again.

"Truth is - we're not going back."

She blinked.

No response.

He sighed, then tried once more.

"We're not going back to the future - permanantly, anyway. Maybe we'll go back for, I dunno, groceries, or stuff like that, but other than that - oof," he finished as she landed on him in an uncerimonious hug.

"That's great!" She pulled away quickly, however much to his annoyance and looked at him. "I mean, maybe it's not great for you, you know, but - "

He placed his finger on her lips. "You're rambling again."

" - oh, was I?" There was a momentary pause, but she started again anyway. "So - "

"I'm staying." He stepped closer to her.

She was grinning. "Why?" she asked, though she knew the answer to that already.

He grinned right back at her. "Silly Keely," he murmured teasingly as he leaned in towards her. Their lips met.

She pulled away a few minutes later, her eyes shining. "I could've sworn there were fireworks," she admitted.

"Probably because there were," Phil replied. He pecked her on the lips once before turning around. "Pim?" he called out accusingly. There was no reply. He repeated his call, louder this time, and added, "You'd better come here before I - "

"Alright, alright, I'm here," she yelled back, and within a few moments, Pim came into view. There was a box of matches in her hand.

Both of them glared at her.

She pouted and handed Phil the matches. "Fine, I'm leaving." She began walking to the door but turned back and grinned at them. "Finally," she said.

The couple beamed back at her. "Thanks to you," Phil said with a laugh.

She giggled and bowed. "Yep. Ya know, come to think of it, I don't think I'll mind staying in this century much." She turned to Keely. "Now, usually I'd have a warning for you - " she'd become a lot more protective of her brother, especially after she herself had been protected by him from another guy - " but since you're one of my best friends and one of his, too, I think I can skip that."

"Thanks," Keely responded, hugging her quickly.

"Bye then," the youngest blonde said, lifting her arm up as a wave before turning around and leaving.

He turned to face her again and with a smile, kissed her again. "I love you," he whispered, hugging her tightly.

"I love you too." Her eyes brimmed with tears.

And sometime later, when Pim told the other Diffys about it all, Barbara couldn't help a yell of delight as she high-fived her daughter and husband.

* * *

_I'm done, y'all! So if ya want a cookie, a fic, both, or just some place to say how horrible/good my fic is - go ahead and click on that 'go' button down there. -grins- Can you resist-waves cookie in front of noses-_


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